LA Dodgers star Alex Vesia misses World Series victory parade celebrations over ‘deeply personal family matter’

ALEX Vesia did not attend the LA Dodgers’ World Series victory parade, per reports.  The pitcher, 29, was absent from the roster for the entire series against the Toronto Blue Jays due to a “deeply personal family matter”.

Vesia left the team days before the start of the World Series to deal with the matter alongside wife Kayla.  The Dodgers went on to win an epic encounter 4-3, taking it in game seven last weekend.

Following its triumph, Los Angeles held a victory parade on Monday.  Per People, Vesia was not in attendance.

Despite his absence, Vesia was not forgotten by his teammates following the Dodgers’ victory at the weekend.  “We’ve all messaged him,” pitcher Will Klein said following game seven.

“We just want him to know that he’s in our hearts, and we did this all for him.  “He’s such a big part of why we’re here in the first place, and so just to be able to get this for them — there are harder places to be than on a World Series mound.  “And so, what they’re going through isn’t great.”

When Vesia first left the team last month, the Dodgers released a statement.  “It is with a heavy heart that we share that Alex Vesia is away from the team as he and his wife Kayla navigate a deeply personal family matter,” the statement began.

“The entire Dodgers organization is sending our thoughts to the Vesia family, and we will provide an update at a later date.”  Vesia’s teammates also paid tribute to him during the series.

Ahead of game three, the team in the bullpen wrote Vesia’s jersey No51 on their hats.  “It’s just something that we talked about, fellow pitcher Clayton Kershaw said.

“I’m new to the bullpen, but Ves, he means a lot to all of us, and he was a huge part of this team, huge part of that bullpen.  “So, we just wanted to do something to honor him.”

Dodgers leftie Jack Dreyer added, “With him [Vesia] not being here, I think it was just a matter of showing that we’re united with him and Kayla at this time.

“It’s just the little thing that we could do to show him that we care and we’re thinking about him.  “We could really use him here, but at the end of the day, we’re a family. So we’re going to help support him however we can.”